Transforming Planning Chaos into Seamless Experiences through UX Design
Overview
JollysTouch is an independent party planning business specializing in weddings and events. They offer comprehensive services, including planning, decoration, and staffing, to create memorable occasions. I developed a website to showcase their services, highlight their expertise, and facilitate client inquiries. The site features service options, past event galleries, and contact information for personalized consultations.
My Role
UX/UI Designer
Tools
Figma & Wix
Duration
4 Weeks
Project type
End-to-end responsive website
Background
Behind the Scenes: The Genesis of Jolly'sTouch Websites
JollysTouch is a small independent party planning business dedicated to creating cherished memories for their clients' special occasions. Specialising in wedding and party planning, decoration services, and staffing, JollysTouch offers a comprehensive suite of services to ensure every event is uniquely memorable. My role in this project was to develop a website that effectively showcases the full range of services JollysTouch offers.
The primary objectives were to highlight the business's capabilities and make it easier for potential clients to articulate their event requirements. The website aims to serve as a vibrant and user-friendly platform where clients can explore various service options, view past event galleries, and contact JollysTouch for personalised consultations.
Problem Space
Unveiling Challenges: A Deep Dive into Event Experience Problem Spaces
JollysTouch, was encountering several issues with their current inquiry process. They were accepting booking requests via Instagram, which led to several recurring problems:
#Issuse 1
Key Information
Clients frequently forget to include essential information such as the date and time of the event, budget and desired theme.
#Issuse 2
Disorganised Communication
The disorganised flow of communication made it difficult to keep track of client requests and preferences, leading to inefficiencies and potential client dissatisfaction.
Additionally, the founder of JollysTouch wanted a streamlined method to receive CVs and applications to hire event staff, which was not feasible through their existing Instagram-based system.
Constraints
Designing Within Limits: Challenges and Constraints
JollysTouch wanted the website to be ready for its 3rd anniversary, which was just a month away. This short timeframe necessitated a streamlined design process to ensure timely completion while still adhering to a comprehensive development approach. Despite the tight schedule, it was essential to follow the full design process to deliver a high-quality, functional website that met JollysTouch's needs.
To accommodate these constraints, several strategies were implemented:
#Strategy 1
Prioritisation
Focus was placed on the most critical features that would effectively showcase JollysTouch's services.
#Strategy 2
Efficient Workflow
Agile development methodologies were used to facilitate rapid iteration and feedback, ensuring continuous progress and timely adjustments
#Strategy 3
Quality Assurance
Despite the expedited timeline, rigorous testing was conducted to ensure the website was free of major issues and provided a smooth user experience.
The Process
Using the Double Diamond Process
As this was my first client project, I decided to use the Double Diamond design process to ensure that I was meeting the needs of both the users and the client. The Double Diamond process, which includes the stages of Discover, Define, Develop, and Deliver, provided a structured framework to guide the project from conception to completion.
Discovery
Research
Understanding the Market of Event Planning
Entering a new industry with JollysTouch as my first client project required a comprehensive research approach to ensure a deep understanding of the market and its needs. I conducted market and competitive research, along with stakeholder interviews, to uncover the key requirements and gaps in this growing space.
Research Goals
1) Understand the user’s experience, motivations, and attitudes regarding party planning and contacting planning services.
2) Conduct market research to understand better how other competitors;
a) Display their planning and decoration services to their customers.
b) Noting how they allow customers to contact them.
c) How they recruit services staff to join their teams.
d) Determine how easy it is for users to navigate competitor websites and find relevant information.
3) Learn how users currently go about booking party planning services and their expectations
Methodologies
Studying the Growing Industry of Event Planning
To understand the users and the industry better, I have conducted both Primary research in the form of interviews and Secondary research in form of Competitive analyses and Market Research.
Secondary Research
Market Research - read about the party planning service industry’s current market trends, opportunities, and challenges, and identify any areas of improvement.
Competitive Analysis - research competitors to understand current market solutions and offerings. Focusing on how competitors display their services to help users find what they are looking for, how competitors facilitate user contact, and how they ensure users provide all the necessary information for the planner. Additionally, focusing on how the site recruits event staffers to their teams.
Primary Research
1:1 Interviews - conduct interviews with 3 participants to understand their decisions and feelings towards looking for and contacting event planning services. This would allow us to directly collect qualitative data and discover preferences and pain points.
Secondary Research
What Do The Facts & Figures Show About This Industry
Facts & Figures
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27% of couples getting married hire a professional wedding/event planner, with day-of planners being the most in demand.
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When it comes to the type of wedding planner couples hire, 37 per cent seek the services of a day-of coordinator, while 31 per cent opt for a full-service or all-inclusive planner
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The number of businesses in the Party & Event Planners industry in the UK has grown 13.5% per year on average over the five years between 2018 - 2023.
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London has the largest amount of party and event planning business compared to the rest of the country.
Currently, event businesses are active on both social media and their websites. Event Businesses use social media as a way to advertise their brand by showing what events they can create and showing the variety of events they can do such as birthdays, weddings, and graduation. Their websites are the main communication point for their customers to inquire and enlist their services.
Competitive Research
Getting to know the Competition
To better understand the industry, I selected a few direct competitors located in the same area as JollysTouch. My goal was to analyze how they display their services, facilitate user contact for inquiries or bookings, and manage the hiring process for event staff. Additionally, I aimed to understand how they display and organize party equipment available for hire.
To achieve this, I created a "pulses and deltas" list to evaluate what is working well and identify opportunities for enhancement.
User Interviews
Speaking to the Users Face to Face
To gather more qualitative data about our potential user's motivations, pain points, and needs, I interviewed 6 local Londoners who have used event planning services. Below are some of the insights that I found when conducting these interviews.
#Insight 1
Human Error
Several participants mentioned that when they were first reaching out to the event planners online they would sometimes forget to mention key information such as the date and times for the event.
#Insight 2
Be On Theme
People are going to choose a service that best suits their taste, therefore they want to see what other events had the event planner done to see if they match their taste.
#Insight 3
Show All Information
Planning an event can be costly. Participants want to know an estimate of the costs before contacting the company. The users also liked to see other events that the company did on their website.
#Insight 4
Social Media and Website
Most of the users found event services via social media and would contact the company on their website. Users feel nervous about contacting a company via social media for fear of being scammed.
#Insight 5
Reviews
Users decided to go with an event planner based on the reviews of the clients
#Insight 6
Online experience should be seamless
Users expect that they will find all the information about the company’s services on their websites without having to inquire about it.
#Insight 7
Contacting services
Most of the participants only wanted to contact the company when they had all the information about the company’s services first.
How Might We
Busy individuals lack the patience and time to research the Event Planners services and only want to contact them when they are ready to use their services
After extensive interviews and affinity mapping, I narrowed my focus to the most pressing challenge for the users. From the interviews, I noticed a common pattern: users want a website that provides all the necessary information, enabling them to make an informed decision when contracting the company. They did not want to waste time messaging the company only to find out it couldn't provide what they were looking for. This issue is also echoed by the business, as the staff wants users to provide the necessary information upfront so they can plan accordingly.
Therefore, the question I asked myself is
How might we make it easier for both the client and the user to get the necessary information they need?
To further define the problem and to understand more about the user I decided to create a persona, Journey map, and information architecture site map.
Define
Persona
Introducing Amber the face behind the facts
Amber is a persona formed through careful analysis of user interviews. She embodies the key struggles, motivations, and behaviours that are representative of my primary users.
Meet Amber she is a Project Manger living and working in the city of London. Her boyfriend of 8 years have become engaged and they are now looking to begin plans for there wedding. With a demanding job, she values efficiency and thorough planning in all aspects of her life
She feels frustrated when most sites provide vague information, requiring her to contact each planner individually for more details. Amber wants a straightforward and informative website that helps her make an informed decision efficiently.
User Jounary Mapping
Mapping the Emotional and Mental Jounary of Amber: Amber Quest for her Dream Wedding
The journey begins with Amber seeking a wedding planner to help organize her big day. As she browses various websites, she notices that many provide little information about their services and are hesitant to share their pricing upfront. This frustrates her because she wants to know the costs before contacting them, but now she has to reach out to find out the prices.
Design Opportunity
Beyond the Agenda: Discovering Unique Design Opportunities in Event Planning Websites
After mapping out Amber's journey and feeling the weight of her challenges, I identified three key touchpoints where a well-designed solution could genuinely help to search for what see is looking for.
#Design Opportunity 1
Well-Defined Contact Form
A clear form outlining the requirements that the team would need to help plan up the event.
#Design Opportunity 2
Informative Interaction
Having a slide show that will show the packages that are on offer. Thid will help the user to see each package.
#Design Opportunity 3
Moodboard for Inspiration
Having mood boards can help users decide on the theme for their event, allowing them to know what they want ahead of time before contacting the company.
Information Architecture
Optimizing user experience by simplyfing data to create seamless expereince
Based on the research and persona discovery, I brainstormed, compiled and organized the necessary website content and functionality. I decided to include the most vital information to make it clean and easy to navigate.
User Flow
Optimizing user experience by simplyfing data to create seamless expereince
Once I completed the information architecture my next step was to create user flows to define how the Amber will be able to attain the information she needs and how would she be able to contact Jolly'sTouch when she wants to use their service. Creating a simple yet effective user flow will aid Jolly'sTouch as it could increase the number of clients wanting to use their service.
The first user flow depicts the user wanting to see what Event Planning packages Jolly'sTouch has to offer and the contract the business via the contact form. The second flow is meant to depict the user exploring the site to find out more information on the decoration services that the business has to offer and contacting them.
Image 1: User Flow 1 - User search for event services
Image 2: User Flow 2 - User search for Decoration Services
Develop
Sketches
Sketching a Decortive Soultion for the Users Big Day
After defining the users, their needs, and motivations, I immediately began designing a few sketches of the site layout. Throughout this process, I consistently referred back to my personas and the information architecture to ensure I remained on track and aligned with user expectations.
Homepage
Contact Page
Galleray Page
About Page
Events Services Page
Decoration Services Page
Wireframing
Bring the Sketches to Life: Creating Digital Wireframes
Wireframe designs were improved through usability testing and client feedback. Each iteration enhanced the design choices and visual hierarchy. Testing was done remotely via Zoom, where I observed participants' interactions and asked them to "think aloud" while navigating through the prototype.
About us Page
Home Page
Contact us
Brand Development & UI Kit
What Happens Next?
In terms of branding, the company already had a logo suitable for the site. To create the colour palette, I opted to extract colours from the logo and social media posts, utilising a mood board for additional guidance. I developed a design system to ensure its consistency throughout the website. This modular system is based on reusable components and their specific states, such as buttons, list items, and controls.
Each component is built to be both rearrangeable and combinable with others, guaranteeing design harmony and recognisable UI patterns for users. This approach not only streamlines the design-to-development handover but also ensures that every interface on the site maintains its initial design intent and offers a cohesive user experience.
Delivery
Outcomes & Metrics
What Was The Result?
The website launch proved highly successful, with users navigating seamlessly through the platform, facilitated by intuitive design choices. Clear contact information enabled efficient communication with the client, resulting in positive feedback and increased engagement metrics. These outcomes reflect the effectiveness of the user-centric approach, aligning closely with project goals and underscoring the pivotal role of UX design in driving user satisfaction and supporting the client's objectives.
We looked at a couple of important numbers to see how well the UX design worked. One was the average number of pages people looked at in one visit. This helped us understand how easily they could move around the site. Another was how long people stayed on the site. This told us if they found the content interesting. By looking at these numbers along with what people said and how they used the site, we could figure out what needed improving to make the site better for everyone.
Next Steps
What Happens Next?
In terms of the next steps, I plan to conduct further testing with a new group of users to identify any additional improvements that can be made. By gathering feedback from a diverse set of users, I aim to gain valuable insights into their preferences, behaviours, and pain points, which will inform iterative enhancements to the website. This iterative approach ensures that the site continues to evolve in alignment with user needs and expectations, ultimately enhancing the overall user experience
Key Learnings
What Have I Learned From Real Life Client Project
#Key Learnings 1
Flexible Planning
Given the tight time frame, I've acquired the skill of prioritizing tasks essential for ensuring a user-centric focus.
#Key Learnings 2
Clear Client Communication
Given the tight time frame, I've acquired the skill of prioritizing tasks essential for ensuring a user-centric focus.
#Key Learnings 3
Align Goals Throughout The Process
When my client and I got confused, it was usually because our expectations were off. By realigning our goals and going over business needs, development factors, and customer insights, we got back on track. My client found it really helpful to learn about users' needs, especially the human-centred stuff he hadn't thought about before.